BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable
Chinese Brands 2016

The turbulence of the Chinese economy and stock market over the last 12 months continues to make headlines, but what has this meant for brands? Millward Brown's 10 years of the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands has demonstrated that a strong brand protects the business in hard times, and enables it to recover faster.

Millward Brown and WPP have released the 6th annual BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Chinese Brands ranking and report. Learn how Chinese brands weathered the recent economic challenges and what impact this has had on consumer confidence and the growth of local brands.

Thought Leadership

Brands targeting young consumers in China must be bold, understand their values, and speak to them in their language. The post 95 generation favors adventure, exploration and the simple things in life. Marketers should adopt an unconventional route to reach them, talk to them and touch them.

BrandZ research from Millward Brown proves marketing is the most important investment a brand can make to ensure long-term financial success, and resiliency in challenging economic times. Chinese brands need to focus on “being different” over the next decade to fully compete with mulit-national brands in China, In a world with so much product similarity, brands consumers view as “different” achieve higher value.

Content is still King in China but attention is at a premium. The average Chinese consumer flirts with multiple screens and spends 56 percent of their leisure time on a smartphone – more than double that spent on TV in a normal day. Ads must be well branded and engaging to grab consumers’ attention in a short window of 3 seconds.

Internet +, O2O and Digital have become sweet spots for traditional brands trying to innovate and seize new opportunities in the digital age. At the same time, we are seeing a new trend among internet brands that are rethinking the fundamentals of their brands and brand building efforts and focusing on enhancing their brand influence in the “physical world”.

Multiscreen users in China are among the world leaders when it comes to watching video content across devices, especially on digital channels, but they are resistant to video ads. What can marketers do to improve receptivity?

Chinese businesses outperform the global average in delivering “Data Driven Customization” and “Touch Points Consistency.” Chinese brands also score higher on experimentation and collaboration. However, they’re not as “customer obsessed” as their global counterparts. Customer Centricity is a top priority for the leaders at 91 percent of the global over-performing companies, compared to only 67 percent in China.

Virtual economy big shots in China are continuously making investments, mergers or acquisitions in hot territories, from O2O and entertainment to e-commerce. They are also maintaining growth and strategic placement by leveraging each other’s advantages in a change or be changed environment.